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I Need A One Word Answer....

Mal

By Mal
in Gluten-Free Restaurants

Recommended Posts

Mal Explorer
Mal
Posted

yes or no.

mcdonalds fries - made in a deticated frier.....gluten free or not.

can it be that simple or no!?

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Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted
yes or no.

mcdonalds fries - made in a deticated frier.....gluten free or not.

can it be that simple or no!?

Simple, oh , not here, but have eaten with no issues.

Mango04 Enthusiast
Mango04
Posted

This is the most complex issue the board has ever faced :lol: There have been epic threads of debate about it. I don't have an answer...sorry :(

psawyer Proficient
psawyer
Posted

I wish it were that simple. It isn't. There have been many discussions about McFries on here, mostly in the first few months of 2006. There is no concensus.

In the US, there is a flavoring agent which contains wheat and milk derivatives added to the oil in which the cut potatoes are partially fried prior to being frozen and shipped to the local store. Once there, they are fried in oil which does not have any flavor added. Independent testing has shown that, even though wheat is used in creating the flavor in these fries from one (only one) US supplier, the resulting product contains no detectable gluten.

Some of us accept that testing and agree that it is possible that the processing of the derivatives to create the flavor added to the oil results in a gluten-free product. Others of us reject that finding. You must decide. Personally, I feel that the US fries are safe, and have eaten them without any difficulty on many occasions.

However, in McDonalds, like any other restaurant, especially fast food restaurants, the risk of cross-contamination exists. The potato fryer is at the front, well removed from any other cooking area, but the staff who assemble the order may have been in contact with other products (buns) which contain gluten, and crumbs could be anywhere in the facility.

Use the search tool looking for McDonalds to find all of the prior posts if you are interested. There are many, with no concensus on whether they are safe or not.

For what it is worth, in Canada the fries come from a different source which does not use wheat or milk derivatives in the flavours. But the CC concerns still apply. I still eat the fries (and hash browns) from time to time--about once a month on average.

tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted
can it be that simple or no!?

no. it is not that simple, particularly in this case.

Juliebove Rising Star
Juliebove
Posted

Not simple and I won't eat them. I don't have gluten issues but am allergic to milk. Daughter is allergic to milk and gluten. So we won't eat them.

Viola 1 Rookie
Viola 1
Posted

Yes, I eat them with no issues.

Now, did you really expect a simple answer? :lol::rolleyes:

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Phyllis28 Apprentice
Phyllis28
Posted

I eat them about once a month without issues.

Nancym Enthusiast
Nancym
Posted
I Need A One Word Answer....

Maybe? :)

Nantzie Collaborator
Nantzie
Posted
Maybe? :)

:lol::lol::lol:

I eat them occasionally; maybe once every couple of months. I haven't been glutened by them, but I know it's going to happen. Any time you eat out there's always a risk of CC. I just put it into the category of eating out, eating at someone else's house or eating something someone else makes.

Unless you make it yourself, you can never be 100% sure it's safe.

Nancy

happygirl Collaborator
happygirl
Posted

Not a one word answer but :)

GIG (one of the leading gluten groups in America) had testing done with McDonald's and came out with a statement that they are gluten free. https://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodi...-39107073320.a4

However, add me to the list of those who got tired of getting sick from cross contamination (even though I was "told" it was a dedicated fryer), and now does not eat them.

Mal Explorer
Mal
Posted
  • Author
Maybe? :)

hahahaha i was waiting for that one!!

Shiba Newbie
Shiba
Posted

Here in Oz Macca's told me that their fries have 'traces'.

RiceGuy Collaborator
RiceGuy
Posted

You could make your own fries, so you'd know for certain. The Ore-Ida site has a Open Original Shared Link, in which they specify the safe fries.

armywife Newbie
armywife
Posted

Yes, my daughter eats them with no problem, although the hashbrowns are not gluten free.

  • 3 weeks later...
bender rodriguez Newbie
bender rodriguez
Posted

Hi All,

Perhaps one for the International Forum, but did you know that McDonald's in Sweden do gluten-free bread with your burger? Essentially you can order (have to ask) a gluten-free burger, and they'll prepare it specially, seperately. They also have a good allergy list in their restaurants. Take a look at:

Open Original Shared Link

For what it's worth, I've eaten McD's fries in the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, the USA and more, and I've never had any problems, having been diagnosed at age 1.

But that probably doesn't help ;)

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      Thank you! That's helpful. My kids eat very little processed food. Tons of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and occasional red meat. We do a lot of rice and bean bowls, stir fry, etc.  Do you think with all the fruits and vegetables they need a vitamin supplement? I feel like their diet is pretty healthy and balanced with very limited processed food. The only processed food they eat regularly is a bowl of Cheerios here and there.  Could shaking legs be a symptom of just a one-time gluten exposure? I guess there's no way to know for sure if they're getting absolutely zero exposure because they do go to school a couple times a week. We do homeschool but my son does a shared school 2x a week and my daughter does a morning Pre-K 3 x a week.  At home our entire house is strictly gluten free and it is extremely rare for us to eat out. If we eat at someone else's house I usually just bring their food. When we have play dates we bring all the snacks, etc. I try to be really careful since they're still growing. They also, of course, catch kids viruses all the time so I  want to make sure I know whether they're just sick or they've had gluten. It can be pretty confusing when they're pretty young to even be explaining their symptoms! 
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